My Past Makes Me Stronger
by Heaven's Silent Dreamer
Summary: Sakura is a strong-spirited kitsune whose father was murdered before her eyes. A legendary dog youkai takes her under his wing, but when he is killed in battle, she has a choice to make that will decide her fate.    Disclaimer: I don't own YYH/IY!
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

In the beginning of time, there were four entities that ruled the Universe – Life, Chaos, Order/Law, and Death. The universe was large and expansive, larger than human imagination could stretch, and yet, empty, dull, and completely lifeless. The entities that ruled got tired of this great lot of nothing, and Life and Order brought forth new entities, demigods – if you will – to keep them entertained. The demigods were the first youkai, and the four great entities created a world upon which they could dwell – it was called Gaia.

Along with the youkai, the entities created a race of humanoids that could live alongside these youkai, even if there was fighting and destruction at times. The entities were amused, and had no idea that they'd just created a civilization that would thrive for countless millennia to come.

They would grow to call themselves humans, and they were a driving force in shaping their new world.

Eventually, Life and Death became primal forces, rather than entities, along with their brothers of Order and Chaos. Humans chose the way they wanted their gods represented, and youkai didn't really believe in a higher power – only that they WERE the higher power. The entities melded into the flow of the universe, becoming one with the machine they'd created.

But it didn't last. Death reemerged in the next thousand years, in the form of a woman. It lived out a humans life, until its powers manifested in its sixteenth year of life. It once more became a conscious force, and sought to reinstate itself as a god. It was not the only one - its former brethren emerged as well, and one in particular – Chaos – would establish for herself a wicked bloodline that would stretch into the present time.

Chaos lived as a human, a human with great destructive potential. She met a man – well, a male dog youkai - whom she believed was the complete embodiment of hatred, and who possessed strong magical talents. They mated, and produced a son whose name would be feared for generations – Aku Taiki, the conqueror of the Eastern Lands. Known simply as Lord Tai, he would work closely with Chaos and Hatred to bring destruction to the world.

Life came to Earth in the form of a woman. Her name was Chiyoko, and she eventually married the Lord of the North, Takenaka Masaru, who fathered the girl that was orphaned at the age of 10 – Takenaka Sakura.

Order/Law came about in the body of a dog youkai who was only ever known as Inu no Taisho. He fathered two sons – a full-blooded dog youkai named Sesshoumaru, via a female dog youkai named Bara, and a hanyou/Halfling named InuYasha, via the fallen noble house of Hayashi's only daughter, Izayoi. Unfortunately, the great Inu no Taisho died of injuries inflicted upon him in the great battle with Ryuukossei, when InuYasha was barely two years old.

Before his death, however, Inu no Taisho had taken an orphaned kitsune child under his care, the girl's father being someone he respected. She, Sakura, lived with InuYasha and his mother after Inu no Taisho went to go investigate the rumors of the dragons invading the lands, and enjoyed picking on the hanyou rather mercilessly, especially in the few times that Sesshoumaru came to visit.

By the time InuYasha's mother died, leaving the hanyou child (now eleven) an orphan, Sakura had already gone off to live with Youko, and train to be strong under his tutelage. InuYasha grew up alone, and as an outcast to both youkai and human society, until the time he met Kikyou. Unbeknownst to InuYasha, the essence of Order/Law continued on in his body, in the form of Tessaiga, a sword forged from the fang of the great Inu no Taisho.

Sesshoumaru had lived with his own mother until he was the human equivalent of fourteen, when he'd set out to try and surpass his father's great strength.

And with this knowledge in hand, we can begin our adventure!


	2. The Orphaned Kitsune

**Chapter One: The Orphaned Kitsune Appears!**

The day had started off with the whole castle shaking. Sakura was taken from her bed by her mother, who took her to a safe room in the center of the castle. They remained there; the young fox kit clinging to her mother's kimono, hiding her face when she heard the dragon's loud roar. The sounds of soldiers dying and her father battling valiantly rang in her ears.

But something happened…she heard a gurgle, and looked up to see blood gushing from her mother's throat. Someone had invaded the castle. Sakura scrambled away, and made a break for it. The servants had her back, and held off the intruder while the young girl ran away. She darted outside, just in time to watch her father be impaled by a dragon's claw. The blood spattered across her pink kimono, and she ran as fast as she could away from the castle, using the tall grasses to cover her path. She didn't know how far she'd gotten, but her legs finally gave out and she fell over, sobbing. Her whole life was gone now…what was she going to do?

The Western Lands had been quiet and peaceful for a few days now, and the great Inu no Taisho who patrolled them was pleased. It seemed that the other youkai were finally getting it through their heads that their reckless endangerment of humans would no longer be tolerated. It was the dream of Order to bring peace to the land. As he walked, he began to hear a soft crying noise. He was near the area where the Western Lands met the Northern Lands, and there were no human villages nearby…so the Inu no Taisho (who lacked a real name, like Daiki/Daichi/Akio, but for the purposes of our story, he is named 'Akio', with the characters for 'bright' and 'hero', because one can only write 'Inu no Taisho' so much) went to investigate.

It was still early in the morning, with the mists rolling through the valley, and the smell of blood hit Akio's nose as he went to investigate. He picked up speed, and soon came across a small fox kit hidden among the tall grasses. She – or at least, he assumed it was a girl because of her pink kimono – looked up when she smelled the great dog leader approaching, and a look of fright crossed her small face.

"It's alright." Akio told her, gently, as he knelt to her level. She only came up to about his knee. "I'm here to help you. What's your name?"

"T-takenaka Sakura." The fox kit replied, her voice quivering. "I…um…are you a friend of my father's?" She inquired, seeing the look of surprise that crossed his face. Around children, Akio tended to show his emotions a little more openly. It wasn't something that he even realized he was doing.

"Your father…is Takenaka Masaru, isn't he? The Lord of the North?" When she nodded in response to his question, he seemed stunned. "Then why are you all the way out here? Your home is many miles from here, is it not?"

"I can't go home." Sakura looked at the ground. "They're dead. Some…thing…came and destroyed everything. My home is gone."

"Thing? What did this thing look like?" Akio was saddened slightly, to hear of the loss of a great ally to the cause of peace, but knew that there were more important things to take care of now.

"It was big, and black, and had huge red eyes…" Sakura held her tiny hands out, and a ball of water formed. She shaped it into the form of what had attacked her home, which despite being almost cartoon-y in shape, was recognizable as a dragon.

"A dragon!" Akio's eyes widened. "Why would a dragon attack your home? This doesn't make sense…"

"I don't know." Sakura let the water drop to the ground. "All I know is that they're dead, and I'm the only one left. "I…I have to avenge them."

With those words, Akio realized that she was not as young a child as she looked, and was at least twelve or thirteen, to have some sense of vengeance.

"Child, leave that in the hands of those who are responsible for the safety of those living in these lands." Akio told her. "I'll call a meeting of the other lords, and we'll see what we can do."  
>Sakura hesitated, but nodded, seeing the wisdom in his words.<p>

"Yes sir." She mumbled. She didn't fight back when Akio took her by the hand and led her away from the border to find a safe place for her to stay.

Sesshoumaru wandered the forests, looking for his father. A sigh escaped him, as he wondered why his father had to be such a bleeding heart. A true noble youkai didn't care about humans, who had such short lives compared to their own. He could smell his father not that much further up ahead, and stopped short when he saw Akio coming closer, holding the hand of a little girl. From her appearance, Sesshoumaru could tell that she was a fox kit, and she seemed quite upset.

"Father, what is going on here?" Sesshoumaru inquired, his countenance and voice remaining calm.

"This is Lord Takenaka's daughter. You remember him, I'm sure, from the time he came to the Western Lands to meet with me."

"I see." Sesshoumaru eyed the kit, but said no more. He turned to walk off, and felt something grab the back of his leg. Turning slightly, he glanced down and saw the fox kit holding onto the back of his pants with a small hand. He narrowed his eyes at this nuisance, but said nothing.

"L-Lord Ohtsuka wants me to stay with you." Sakura spoke up. "He said that the place he was going was no place for a child."

"He was right." Sesshoumaru told her. "And this is no place for a child, either. Leave me be."

"Fine." Sakura huffed. "I'll leave you alone." She turned to leave, to go find a place to sleep and rest until Lord Ohtsuka returned. Sakura laid down underneath of a tree, and curled up, missing her family as she remembered the times her parents had taken her out into the fields to collect flowers and play. A few tears escaped as she fell asleep.

As much as Sesshoumaru was loath to watch over the fox kit, he knew that if anything happened to her that his father would have his head. So he did not go far, but didn't stick close. He was only close enough to kill any youkai that would try to hurt the young girl. However, he was very tired from training for three days straight, and the breezes felt so nice, that Sesshoumaru found himself dozing off lightly, for a bit of a nap.

Akio called a meeting with the other lords that remained – Lord Yoshida Osamu of the South, and Lord Aku Kentaro of the East. As they spoke about what had happened to Lord Takenaka and his wife, the expressions of the lords grew grim, and they knew they would have to act soon, before the dragons decided that they would be next. Akio and the lords determined that they would return to their respective lands, do some investigation to see if the dragons had a presence there or not. If the dragons had left the territory assigned to them by the Treatise of 892 on the Territories of Dragons, which assigned most of the mountain ranges to the dragons, on the premise that they were not to come into the territories of the lords, where the youkai and humans dwelled, then swift action must be taken.

Akio had a few promising leads, but wasn't sure of how things would turn out until he did a little looking around. He didn't think that the dragons were in his land, but one could never be sure. Some of the dragons have immense magical powers, and could conceal themselves amongst humans with little difficulty.

But never the less, when he felt the search was hopeless, he would go to his human mate, Izayoi, and rest his hand against her swollen stomach. Their child was the reason he couldn't give up. Akio wanted a world where their half-human, half-youkai baby could grow up in peace, and would give anything for it. Akio spoke to Izayoi of Sakura as well, and Izayoi told him that she wouldn't mind looking after the orphaned fox kit, since she was certain that Sesshoumaru probably didn't much care for children.

So it came that the great Inu no Taisho brought Sakura to live with Izayoi, charging the young girl with helping his mate out around the house. Sakura took to Izayoi quickly, since Izayoi reminded her of her own mother, and the fox kit had no problem with doing chores to earn her keep. The villagers, though wary at first, soon realized that Sakura was much like Akio – a youkai who did not mind humans very much, and rather enjoyed their company.

Every day, once the chores were finished, Sakura took a wooden sword, and practiced the moves her father had begun to teach her, hoping to increase her strength. She wanted to be the one to avenge her family…though Akio's heart was in the right place, Sakura felt as if it were her sacred duty, and not the great Inu no Taisho's duty.

Already, the wheels had started to turn that would bring Akio closer to the dragons than he'd intended to go by himself, and his fate was unclear, though the choices were transparent. Either survive, or don't. It wasn't as if the dragon cared…

A/N: In chapter two, the plot will hopefully move forward more, and get closer to the cast you're all used to. ^_^


	3. Legacy of a Legend

**Legacy of a Legend**

_A/N: **Forbidden Shadow Foxx:** Thank you for the encouraging words! I'm trying to get updates out on a regular basis, and I hope that you continue to like the story. C: And I'm sorry for the delayed update. My life at home kept me from being inspired to write more._

Months passed as the investigation drug on and on, with no results so far. The dragons seemed to have retreated for the time being, so Akio went to spend time with his beloved mate, and to celebrate the birth of his son, bestowing him upon him the name 'InuYasha'. He also spent time with Sakura, who begged him to help her train. At first, Akio was apprehensive, due to the girl's small stature, but finally relented when he watched how fast she could move. They both used wooden swords, and Lord Ohtsuka praised her when she did well, which made the fox kit beam with pride. Sakura knew she was getting closer to her goal of vengeance, even if slowly. Progress was progress, no matter how small.

It was a beautiful day when Akio heard news of a dragon causing trouble to the north, and knew it would be a huge fight. He quietly told Izayoi that he did not expect to be coming home after this. She kept her composure, for the sake of the children, but inside, she was heartbroken. She loved her Lord Ohtsuka with everything she had, but Izayoi knew she needed to carry on, and to raise InuYasha. It was the last time Izayoi ever saw Akio alive.

The battle was fierce – it raged on and on for days, and Akio could feel his strength waning. This dragon had to have been the murderer of Lord Takenaka! Akio gave it his everything, but in the end, he was only able to seal the powerful dragon into a comatose state. Akio staggered, in his true form, and tried to walk out of the valley, not inclined to die where the dragon was sealed. He had his pride. His thoughts rested on Sesshoumaru, Izayoi, and his little baby boy. He wished he could have had more time with all of them, and could have been there to watch InuYasha grow up into the strong man he knew he would be, especially with Izayoi there to guide him. A small smile crossed Akio's face as he imagined that, and knew that his boys would live in a world that was safe from this dragon, at least. And his beautiful Izayoi…when he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine her face, and hear her calling to him.

With little pomp, and little dignity, a legend died that day. The sun continued to shine, defiantly, and the cool breezes of autumn caressed the still form. The stench of blood hung heavily in the noon air, and it was Sesshoumaru who found the corpse of his father. He summoned his father's loyal servants, and they took care of the body, while Sesshoumaru left the scene to mourn in his own way. Even if Sesshoumaru despised Akio with everything he was, Akio had still been Sesshoumaru's father, and some of Sesshoumaru's earliest memories featured Akio teaching Sesshoumaru the basics needed for survival. Sesshoumaru, however, was not the sentimental type, and would not be in mourning for long before beginning to wonder about Akio's prized sword, Tessaiga, and curse the fact that Akio died before Sesshoumaru could find out if he'd surpassed his father yet.

Izayoi took care of InuYasha as she'd promised, and Sakura grew quiet and introverted. This was the second father figure she'd lost, and she didn't know what to do with the grief. Izayoi saw this, and felt a kinship with the girl in loss. Izayoi had lost her father at a young age as well, and it was not long after that before her family's noble house fell into ruins.

It was a rainy afternoon when Izayoi approached Sakura, and sat beside the girl who was on the verge of young womanhood.

"I know that loss is hard to deal with…" Izayoi spoke softly, and kindly, to try and put the girl at ease. "But our loved ones aren't suffering anymore."

"They weren't suffering until those dragons showed up." Sakura told Izayoi. "Those dragons are at blame…they deserve to suffer the way that our loved ones suffered…"

Izayoi reached out, to touch Sakura's shoulder, but the fox kit drew away from her, standing up. "I'm going to go train some more…without Lord Ohtsuka, though, how can I ever get better?"

About this time, in the north, a pair of wanted criminals were running towards what one of them thought would be a safe haven. But when they saw the ruins of what used to be the castle, they skidded to a stop.

"Youko, I thought you said that this was a safe place…this is a ruin!" The tall, black-haired bat youkai whined. "We're going to get caught for sure!"

Youko shook his head, his long, silvery hair reflecting the light.

"Can you smell that sulfur hanging in the air? Dragons have been here – no one in their right mind would come here." Youko spied the corpses scattered along the ground. "I think…Kuronue, I think we should bury these poor people, so that their spirits can move onto the next life."

"I never pictured you as a religious type, Youko." Kuronue's grin was shot dead by Youko's glare. "…Yeah, we should."

While the pair worked on burying the bodies, which were decayed greatly by this point, Youko came across a corpse that he identified as Lord Takenaka. Lord Takenaka was interred into his own grave, and when they found his wife, she was laid to rest beside him.

After they were finished, Youko searched the ruins of the castle.

"What are you looking for? It looks like this place doesn't have anything of value left." Kuronue remarked.

"Lord Takenaka had a young daughter. If she died in the battle as well, I'd like to place her next to her parents." Youko replied, but said nothing else for a while, until it looked like they couldn't find what Youko was looking for in the ruins.

"I take it that she's not here?" Kuronue inquired.

"No…she's not here." Youko answered, shaking his head slightly.

"Maybe she got away." Kuronue suggested, seeing Youko's grim scowl. "Maybe she got lucky."

"No…the dragons that killed Lord Takenaka wouldn't have let her just get away." Youko said.  
>Kuronue raised an eyebrow.<p>

"Maybe she's more clever and quick than you give her credit for." Kuronue told him. "Or maybe someone found her and got her away before the dragons could get to her."  
>Youko seemed to agree with that, nodding his head slightly.<p>

"Yeah…well…" Youko found the place where Lord Takenaka kept his sake – it was miraculously untouched, and took a couple jars. He uncorked one, and poured a libation over the graves. "To souls whose lives were untimely ended, I offer a toast." He tossed away the empty jar, and uncorked the second one, drinking it and sharing the sake with Kuronue. They stayed there until late in the night, when the winds picked up and chilled them to the bone. They sought shelter in the ruin itself, to keep out of the cold.

It was many years before Sakura returned to the ruins of what used to be her home. The blue eyes – once so full of joy and a zest for life – were iced over, revealing nothing of what she felt inside. Her long blond hair was braided tightly down her back, and whipped around in the icy wind that blew.  
>"Home…" She whispered, but shook her head. "No…not anymore…" Her sure-footed steps in the deep snow led her closer to the ruins. As she approached, she saw two crude headstones erected in the front of the ruin. Two names had been carved out of the stones – her parents' names. Her eyes widened slightly – who could have come by and given her parents a proper burial? She knelt before the stones, her kimono being dampened by the snow.<p>

"Mother…Father…" Sakura closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. "Please watch over me…" She murmured, and stood up. Her kimono was long and heavy, to shield her from the cold weather that was currently plaguing the north. She wanted to avenge the deaths of her parents, but first…she wanted to rebuild what was lost.

Word traveled slowly in those days, but it reached Youko's ears soon enough. When he heard that someone was rebuilding the Northern Lands, he decided to go and investigate, for curiosity's sake…and also to quell the rumors that said it was the former lord's lost daughter – Youko still believed that she had died with her parents, and that this person was an imposter, capitalizing on the name of the Takenaka family to gain the loyalty and trust of those in the former lord's realm. However, it would take him a while to reach the Northern Lands – his hideout was currently somewhere in the south, where he'd moved to avoid the wrath of his latest target. Youko had made quite the name for himself – and he was a wanted criminal, with many wealthy human nobles offering huge sums for the fox – be he alive or dead, it mattered not to them. But it wasn't long before the fox set course for the north, to figure out the truth behind the suspicious return of Takenaka Sakura.


End file.
